Betrayal
by xX-Muffin-Xx
Summary: Summary: Completely AU: B/A - Angel broke one of the most sacred wedding vows and now Buffy is left to pick up the pieces.


**Title:** Betrayal

**Author:** xX-Muffin-Xx

**Disclaimer:** -Insert typical disclaimer about how I own nothing and please don't sue me-

**Pairing:** Mainly Buffy/Angel

**Summary: **Completely AU: Angel broke one of the most sacred wedding vows and now Buffy is left to pick up the pieces.

**Authors Note:** Okay, so I originally started writing this FanFic (under the same title) in 2010 when I was a senior in high school. I originally posted about three full chapters on this site before life became complicated and this story was put on the back burner. Over the years I have come back to the story, added some more details, changed up a bit of the plot…but recently my muse for this story has been gaining more momentum and I'm very pleased to start writing it once again J . I have deleted the old version from my account as well.

I'm a huge fan of Alternate Universe fan fiction (which I admit is weird) so I have read heaps of them, if not all of them! It's actually hard for me to find a story on this site and others that I haven't read (sad I know). But my main point is that I've never read an AU like the one I'm about to write.

Hope you enjoy!

Any feedback would be GREAT! : )

Keep in mind I am not a professional and don't claim to be a great writer.

**Oh! And ****_and thoughts = Italics_**

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**~Chapter 1**

_To take a Vow is to promise, commit or pledge._

Wedding vows are a sacred promise between bride and groom in front of their friends, family and even God. It is a promise that they love each other and are committed through thick and thin, to be together lifelong and most importantly to be faithful to one another.

Or so I thought.

The vow of holy matrimony is something I took seriously. I wanted to be the best wife I could be by honouring the vows I took. I didn't rush into marriage. I agreed to marriage because I was in love with the man I was to wed, I trusted him, I wanted a future with him and I was ready for the next step in our relationship.

We had talked about marriage briefly but both established that we were okay with it. I admit to having my doubts about marriage at first. My own parent's marriage was far from a story book romance.

After my sister dawn and I were born it didn't take my father Hank Summers long to start sniffing around elsewhere. When my mother Joyce found out she was crushed, she had been totally oblivious to his betrayal. So mum packed us up, leaving New York behind us and starting a new life in Los Angeles.

My mother later married my high school librarian Rupert Giles. Anyone could see that they loved each other, it was as clear as day. They have now been married for 10 long years and in those 10 years my somewhat close minded view on marriage had certainly broadened.

I had seen the good and bad of it.

I was and still am a strong believer in the 'right' person, or the 'one'. The one person you're supposed to be with, the right person to marry. I and everyone else believed that I had indeed found my 'right' guy, or the 'one' for me.

But I suppose it is human nature to be wrong some of the time. I mean not everyone can be right about everything. Right?

The wedding itself was beautiful. If I wasn't actually there I would have believed it was a fairy tale. The ceremony was set in the most gorgeous garden overlooking a picturesque lake that glittered as the sunset on the horizon. I married the man I loved; it was the happiest day of my life.

My husband is a lawyer over at the L.A branch of Wolfram and Hart. He hired me 6 years ago to be his personal assistant. I was only 22 at the time and I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Education had provided the necessary skills and qualifications for the job so it seemed like easy money till I figured myself out. I didn't plan on falling for him; at first I didn't even like him. He was a typical player when it came to women and he had one heck of an ego to match.

But eventually I saw past all that.

He was an extremely intelligent man and older than me by 4 years. He had a brilliant, witty, dry sense of humour that made me laugh so hard at times that I'd get cramps in my side. When it was just us hanging out or with the rest of our friends and he wasn't in the spotlight of being the almighty cold and determined lawyer he was relaxed, deeply attentive, and even sweet. If I had a problem I could go to him and he would listen and look at me like he was really looking at me…deeply, as if it was only me and him in the world.

It wasn't at all hard to fall in love with him.

We began dating only 6 months after he hired me, I worked as his personal assistant for the next 2 years until I took over my mother's successful art gallery in Beverly Hills. Around the same time I sold my apartment and moved into his rather ostentations condo. The next thing I knew, after 3 years of courtship he proposed. It came as a complete surprise to me. As I said are talk of marriage had been brief at best but as soon as he asked me I realized I no longer saw my life without this man. I didn't want anyone other than Angelus McBain.

Six months later we were married. We honey mooned for 4weeks all around Europe taking in very little of the sites. Angelus was more interested on spending 4 weeks in bed rather than 4 weeks of looking at tourist attractions. Not that I minded of course but it would have been nice to see a little more of Rome then just their fine silk hotel sheets.

Around our first wedding anniversary my mother, Joyce, was in a serious car accident. She was hit by a drunk driver as she was returning home from the grocery store. She had a broken leg, a few cracked ribs and a nasty concussion.

Dawn and I made sure she was never alone during her hospital stay. My mother's rehabilitation improved each day but I was a wreck. Angelus was extremely supportive, getting Anya to cover for me at the gallery while I stayed by my mother's bedside, bringing me food because I was frequently forgetting to eat and just holding me when my mind wandered to the worst case scenario of what could have happened.

Thankfully Joyce did get better and was released into Giles' care.

But over the weeks of my mother's hospital stay I had forgotten to keep taking my contraceptive pills. Angelus and I had agreed a long time ago that we wanted children, though we planned on waiting a few years before we started trying. I didn't think anything of my lapse, believing the odds of me becoming pregnant weren't that high. But when I missed my period the next month I knew something was up.

My best friends Willow and Faith who've I've known since high school were with me when I took a home pregnancy test. I hadn't mentioned any of this to Angelus in case it was all nothing. But when the little white stick showed a pink plus sign I smiled.

Even though this baby wasn't planned yet and I wasn't sure if I was even ready to become a mother, I was thrilled. I confirmed the pregnancy a couple of days later at my doctor's office and as soon as he told me I was expecting I could barely contain my excitement. That day I raced over to Angelus' office and told him the wonderful news myself. To my relief Angelus was ecstatic. I was so happy; the happiest I'd ever been since marrying the man that I was so in love with.

I suppose it was at this moment in my life when I became oblivious about the happenings around me, I was just so focused on my pregnancy. I didn't notice Angelus' change in behavior as he seemed as loving towards me and the baby as one should be.

I do have one theory though, maybe it was just the baby he was being so loving towards and not me. Our sex life pretty much halted to a stop as soon as I found out I was pregnant but I just thought Angelus wasn't comfortable making love to me when I was carrying his child, it seemed like a reasonable excuse at the time.

I think I chose to ignore the distance forming between my husband and I and focus on the baby, believing all would be right when he or she was born. I took maternity leave from the gallery, leaving Anya in charge. We had decided to find out the sex of our baby and to my surprise Angelus' suspicion of a girl was correct. Angelus even helped me set up the nursery in the room across the hall from our bedroom, letting me paint the walls a pale pink.

Close to my 38 week mark I visited my doctor complaining of severe chest pains similar to heart burn. Angelus' had an important business meeting that morning so I went by myself. My doctor informed me that I had developed pre-eclampsia. My liver had begun failing and it was best for the baby and I's health if she was delivered via caesarean.

I remember being so afraid for our daughter's health, fearing the absolute worst .I was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital for the procedure, frantically calling my husband on the way. Angelus was able to get to the hospital in time and held my hand through the entire procedure. At 2:06pm little Isabella Milsean McBain was brought into the world. We chose Isabella after Angelus' late grandmother and Milsean was Gaelic for the word sweet.

I recovered well and Isabella had been doing great. We were both released 5 days after I was first admitted.

But I'll never forget the moment Angelus handed me Isabella. In that moment I saw all the love and happiness right there in his eyes. I knew at that moment he loved me and I didn't doubt it for a second.

But I guess being oblivious runs in my family. Like my mother before me I was completely unaware of what was going on behind my back.

I found out 3 months after Isabella was born.

I saw his infidelity with my own eyes.

I couldn't believe that Angel, my Angel! Would break that vow, when he knows how much I despise my father for it. Angelus claimed he understood why it was so hard for me to trust him at the forefront of our relationship.

People would tell me, heck my own mother told me that **_'once a player, always a player'_** but I refused to believe it. How long had this been going on for? Why wasn't I enough? Was their more women? Did he not love me at all? What about Isabella in all this? So many questions ran through my mind after learning the truth about my husband it almost hurt to think.

I was a wreck.

So I cried.

And I cried

The tears seemed never ending.

_"I, Angelus McBain take you Buffy Summers, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; and I promise to be faithful to you for as long as we both shall live."_

He promised in front of all are friends and family to be faithful to me.

He broke that sacred promise...

...And it broke my heart.

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**R&R  
**


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